sauté

American  

[soh-tey, saw-] / soʊˈteɪ, sɔ- /

adjective

1. cooked or browned in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil, or other fat.

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verb (used with object)

sautéed, sautéing

1. to cook in a small amount of fat; pan-fry.

noun

1. a dish of sautéed food.

sauté British  

/ ˈsəʊteɪ /

verb

1. to fry (food) quickly in a little fat

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noun

1. a dish of sautéed food, esp meat that is browned and then cooked in a sauce

adjective

1. sautéed until lightly brown

   sauté potatoes

Etymology

Origin of sauté

1805–15; < French, past participle of sauter to jump (causative: to toss) < Latin saltāre, frequentative of salīre to jump

Explanation

To saute is to cook food over high heat, usually in butter or oil. Many recipes begin by instructing you to saute onions and garlic in olive oil. You can saute vegetables, meat, fish, or tofu. The quick, hot method of cooking browns the outer layer of food and keeps the inside flavorful. Sometimes saute is used as an adjective — you might buy your friend who loves to cook a fancy saute pan for his birthday. In French, the word sauté means "jumped" or "bounced," which also describes the way food jumps around the pan when you saute it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sauté sautéed sautéing

In a large sauté pan, heat three tablespoons of olive oil and stir in three large garlic cloves, thinly sliced.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Instead of selling a suite of diverse products, millennial brands focused on the “only” T-shirt, mattress or sauté pan you’ll ever need.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026

But with you, it’s, ‘Well, can I sauté it in brown butter?’

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2024

Cooks sauté it in olive oil, season it with onions or boil it into soup to make tasty, low-cost meals.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2024

Wanda stood up without a word and walked over to the kitchen, joining Ekemeni as she began to sauté greens in bacon fat.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Inspired by chef Fabio Trabocchi’s recipe for sautéed rainbow chard, my recipe is abundantly green and calls for 1/3 cup of chicken stock.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

From garlic-lemon sautéed greens to ramen topped with baby bok choy, here are a few great meals to make with just a box of chicken stock.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

An even older icon awaits at Phnom Penh, a 40-year-old Vietnamese-Cambodian restaurant where crowds eagerly wait their turn to try nearly-raw marinated butter beef and lotus root sautéed with chilies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

My favorite meal is gambas à guilho: shrimp sautéed in garlic and olive oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

They found the smell of new paint for a grand opening, dinner specials being simmered, sautéed, baked, or fried.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

Having dishes prepared in the same kitchen sections slows things down, so the options needed to vary between broiling, sautéing and frying shrimp, and options with or without pasta.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

This leaves the shrimp tender and briny, without any of the browned, caramelized notes you would get from sautéing.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2023

Try roasting, stewing, sautéing and serving over ice cream, or adding it to apple sauce recipes.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023

The chopping, sautéing and seasoning we see on this cooking-competition show might be more impressive than usual this year.

From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2023

The methods of cookery that may be applied to meat include broiling, pan broiling, roasting, stewing or simmering, braizing, frying, sautéing, and fricasseeing.

From Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 3: Soup; Meat; Poultry and Game; Fish and Shell Fish by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences